News from the Sea: A New Genus and Seven New Species in the Pleosporalean Families Roussoellaceae and Thyridariaceae

• Main Authors: Anna Poli, Elena Bovio, Lucrezia Ranieri, Giovanna Cristina Varese, Valeria Prigione
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
• Series: Diversity
• Subjects: marine fungi; new taxa; phylogeny; lignicolous fungi
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/4/144

Nineteen fungal strains associated with the seagrass <i>Posidonia oceanica</i>, with the green alga <i>Flabellia petiolata</i>, and the brown alga <i>Padina pavonica</i> were collected in the Mediterranean Sea. These strains were previously identified at the family level and hypothesised to be undescribed species. Strains were examined by deep multi-loci phylogenetic and morphological analyses. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenies proved that <i>Parathyridariella</i> gen. nov. is a distinct genus in the family Thyriadriaceae. Analyses based on five genetic markers revealed seven new species: <i>Neoroussoella lignicola</i> sp. nov., <i>Roussoella margidorensis</i> sp. nov., <i>R. mediterranea</i> sp. nov., and <i>R. padinae</i> sp. nov. within the family Roussellaceae, and <i>Parathyridaria flabelliae</i> sp. nov., <i>P. tyrrhenica</i> sp. nov., and <i>Parathyridariella dematiacea</i> gen. nov. et sp. nov. within the family Thyridariaceae.